Through the Dark Portal
by Saerry Snape
Summary: A female human who grew up amongst a ravaged life in Outland finds her way to Azeroth when the Dark Portal is reopened and discovers that life on her parents world is not quite that different from that she was raised in.


"Ha!"

Face twisted into a snarl, Karre urged her Talbuk forward, sending him racing across the harsh wasteland of Hellfire Peninsula. As he answered her with a burst of speed despite the sweat lathering his cobalt flanks, she recalled the missive she had received whilst hunting demons in Blade's Edge.

_The portal has been reopened, hunter. Demons pour through to the world you came from in haste. Will you follow?_

It had been unsigned and she couldn't think of anyone that might have sent it. But there were many that knew of her – she had viciously slain her way through hundreds of demons in her mere twenty-five years and that had brought her to the attention of many of the denizens of Outland.

Now the demons she hunted were moving; moving to Azeroth, the world her parents had been cut off from years before. What choice had she but to follow?

The missive had reached her so many days ago that she was almost afraid that all of them were dead. And then what would she have on the other side of that portal? Perhaps some peace?

Well…for at least a little while. A small break where she could simply be and not have to worry about being attacked at any moment.

That would be a nice change.

Rikh, her Talbuk, snorted then and she looked up in time to viciously jerk his reins to the side as a demon swung his axe at them. Screaming in rage, she flung one of her throwing daggers at the beast as she urged Rikh off the road, his cloven hooves skittering furiously for purchase on the scorned ground. The demon roared after them but they were used to running from demons and this one was slower than most.

Karre grinned ferally and leaned low over Rikh's neck, patting his damp shoulder as she urged him through the lesser demons that dotted the landscape around the portal. When they reached the stairs that led up to the portal, she realized that there were demons converging in front of in and being fought back by…all races. It was a united front against the demons and it was an awing sight that made her pause for a moment.

Then she urged Rikh forward with a touch of her heels and he charged down the hill where they had paused. Leaning low to his back, she lead him through the demons and up the stairs, where he stood panting and shaking amidst those from her parents home.

One surprised man wearing heavy armor and carrying a hammer as her father had, approached her slowly. He studied her for a moment as she stared at the glowing swirl of the portal then said, "Miss…what are you doing here? You should be…"

Karre whipped her head towards him, hazel eyes narrowed and glaring with enough venom to make him take a step back.

"Do not think you can tell me what to do, paladin. I am going home."

"But…the demons!"

"I have fought them for more years than you can imagine," she snarled. "Now get out of my way."

He scowled but stepped back as she asked, well out of the way of Rikh's hooves as she patted his shoulder before urging him forward. The Talbuk darted forward eagerly then slowly to a walk at a gentle tug from her on his reins.

Tilting back her head, she stared at the portal as Rikh slowly paced towards it, ignoring those that surged around her from the other side of it. Her eyes were only for that glowing pool that would lead her to the world her parents had left. Her world.

Her real home.

If she were not the hunter she was, such a situation might have brought a tear to her eyes.

Then she was on the other side, in a wasteland almost equal to that of Hellfire Peninsula. She looked down and saw human and orc look at her and Rikh in confusion but ignored them after a moment. With a cry, she dug her heels into Rikh's side and they charged past human and orc alike, leaving the small cluster of tents and guards around the portal behind.

When they reached the crest of the hill, she threw back her head and screamed in fury at what she saw.

Demons were here too. There was no gentle peace here.

As her scream faded from the air, Karre bared her teeth and glared at the demons. Then the jagged scar on her cheek rippled as she smiled ferally and growled, "No peace yet, Rikh. We have more work to do."

The Talbuk snorted at his master's words then surged forward as she snapped his reins. As one, they charged straight at one of the demons and Karre leapt from the saddle with her daggers drawn, screaming in fury and rage. She hit the demon in the chest, burying her daggers up to their hilts in its fel flesh, and it roared in anger as it flailed its arms. Then Rikh charged into his side, using his horns and momentum to send the demon crashing into the dust with his master clinging to it.

Snarling ferally, Karre ripped her daggers loose and with truly vicious pleasure carved its head from its shoulders. She sliced her parents names into its flesh, as she had done with every kill she had ever hunted, and then stood panting with her blades and skin coated with fel blood.

"This world," she hissed, "is mine now. And any demon that dares to tread in it whilst I live will wish their master had never sent them here."


End file.
